Friday, November 30, 2012

Thursday, November 29, 2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Here in northwestern New Jersey, we havesnow on the ground.  It's not enough to make a snowman, but at least I can make a snowman card!  This cutie comes from Unity Stamp Company.  Every month, Unity offers a Kit of the Month Sketch challenge.  You can use stamps from any previous kits, which  is very generous of them.  Each month, Unity puts out a fabulous kit for a fabulous price,and it is shipped right to your door.  For more info, contact: http://unitystampco.com
Bundle up and enjoy!

Monday, November 26, 2012

What I love most about fall is fall colors.  So, when Unity Stamp Company's November Unity Challenge was a fall theme, I chose to create a card which the focal point was color.  I love butterflies, but do not see so many in the fall, especially late autumn, so I added them, with artistic license, in fall colors.  I also love autumn sunsets and added that to the card.  I also love silhouettes against an autumn sky, so I added that as well.  Here is my entry.  I hope you like it.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012


I needed to make a masculine birthday card, and this is it.  No stamping on this one, just cutting and pasting.

Monday, November 12, 2012


It's that time of year again.  Time to start preparing for Christmas.  I have a group of stampers, mostly from Maine, that I trade with---this month's swap theme is gift tags.  I used a Sizzix die cut for the tags and a mitten punch from Stampin' Up.  The stamp sets I used are from Stampin' Up as well.  The "A Gift for" stamp is from the set called "Sweet Season" and the Mitten is from a set called "Make a Mitten."  The grosgrain ribbon is also from Stampin' Up.  I feel like they need a little glitz.  I will have to see what I can do to spruce them up a bit.  Enjoy!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

I cased this color theme and layout from my Stampin' Up demonstrator, Michelle Stein.  She used another set and a punch that I did not have.  I looked in my supplies to see what I had that was comparable, and this is what I made.  I really like these colors.  They are crisp and vibrant, cheerful without being saccharine, and offer a beautiful simplicity.  I made this card using two sets from Stampin' Up.  I used a retired set called "The Snowflake Spot" and a current set called "Blessings from Heaven."  The sentiment reads "You are such a blessing in my life."  It is suitable to give to any friend who makes your world a better place.





On FB, many of my friends and myself are doing a month's worth of things we are thankful for each day for 30 days.  One of the things I am very grateful for are first responders.  My nephew is an EMT in New York City, and he has had some very gruelling and heart wrenching work these past few days.  It takes a lot of courage and strength to do what he and other first responders do.  I made this card to let him know that we are thinking of him and praying for him.  The quote is from Desmond Tutu which says "Do your little bit of GOOD where you are.  It's those little bits of GOOD put together that OVERWHELM the world."  Somedays it is hard to imagine that the little bits of good we do truly make a difference, but they do, oh they do!  The stamps used on this card are from Stampin' Up.  I used two sets:  Pursuit of Happiness and Serene Silhouettes.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

"The secret to life is little birds" said the poet e.e.cummings.  Here is my little bird tag.  It is one of my favorites, and I think I like the simplicity of it.  The stamps are from Tim Holtz for Stamper's Anonymous.  The little butterfly is a die cut from Stampin'Up.  The little bird cardboard die cut comes from Magenta rubberstamps.  I stamped on top of the flower petals with stamps to add extra interest.  The postal mark behind the real postal mark is a part of the background paper which I believe is from K&Co.  The white postal mark is a real postal mark.  You can find old postage stamps online at ebay, etsy.com, and other places.  Sometimes they still come with pieces of paper around them and you can cut them out for your purposes.  The ribbon is from Stampin' Up.

Enjoy!
My husband is one of the biggest supporters of my art.  He takes me to art galleries, buys me stamps, and goes with me to conventions.  He offers opinions and advice and true constructive criticism.  Here are the two anniversary cards I have made him.  We just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.


This is my favorite one.  Because of that, we have had it on the fireplace mantle for a year now.  Time to retire it.  The stamps are from Stampington.com.

This is the anniversary card from this year.  It was hard to follow up last year's since that was a tough act to follow.  Here is what I made using stamps from Tim Holtz for Stamper's Anonymous.



The little medallion that says "Promise" on it was ordered off etsy.com.  In addition to beautiful hand crafted items, they also offer embellishments and cards for sale.
"What a doll you are!"  This is my first Character Constructions Swap.  The swap was for fall themed dolls attached to an art tag.  I have no idea what the other people's dolls will look like.  Some of the people in this swap made 15 tags to swap.  I only made 5 because I work very slowly and I knew I could not do that many.  I have to thank Catherine Arnold for allowing me (and some others) to just swap 5 of them. 

Catherine Moore is the creator of Character Constructions.  These stamps are off the beaten path.  I like them because they are artsy and whimsical and very, very feminine.  If you like these stamps, you can find them and many more beautiful stamps at: http://www.characterconstructions.com
Enjoy! 

Saturday, November 3, 2012


Hurricane Sandy left a trail of devastation in her path.  We here in NJ and in NY are really feeling the brunt of it.  So many people have lost homes, some have lost family members and loved ones, and some have lost their businesses.  It is hard to grasp the magnitude of this event and the change it has had on so many lives.  I made this card in honor of all who lost their homes to hurricane Sandy.  In 1972, my family lost our home to Hurricane Agnes.  The flood waters came, lifted our house off its foundation, and when the flood waters cleared, our house was upside down.  All was lost.   The most devastating thing that was lost was our childhood and baby pictures of all the family.  We have a few that we had given out to family members but there are very few pictures of us left as children.  I was 6 when this happened.  As a child, it was very frightening but the adults around me did everything to make it as nice for me as they could.  I was sent to the home of one of my mother's cousins to live until we could find housing.  I remember that she was a sweet lady and let me play on her tire swing, where I spent most of my days until we got new housing.  The government helped out, and we got HUD housing.  Many of my friends from my old neighborhood were moved to the HUD housing so we were able to stay together, which was nice.  I ended up in a better school district.  The townspeople were very generous.  They donated toys and clothing and dishes and houseware products that we needed to start over.  It certainly was a time of transition.  We had to take it "one day at a time" each step of the way.  A path became clear. 

With regards to Hurricane Sandy, we were fortunate to have lost only our electricity, the food in our fridge and freezer, and a few shingles on the roof.  Many were not so fortunate.  I remember them.  We will rebuild.  In time, things will work themselves out as they always do.

I made this card using the template from the Final Ippity Chick Challenge.  The stamps are from the Ippity (by Unity Stamp Company) called "What Matters Most."  I have loosely interpreted the sketch presented, and I hope you will enjoy it.  This is my entry for the Ippity Chick Challenge.  You may this set online for sale at: http://unitystampco.com/shop/what-matters-most/.

  Jen Marie Taylor is my Ippity Chick.  Thanks, Jen, for all your inspiration!



What you are seeing in this picture is a large root ball, upturned, that is covering up the log cabin here.  The rootball looks to be about 20 feet long by about 10 feet wide.  It is sort of a rectangular orb, if that makes sense.  This root ball is in one neighbor's yard, it is their clump of trees that came uprooted, which fall into their next door neighbor's yard, which is seen in the next picture.  Amazing!  Really amazing!



The root clump in the picture with the cabin belongs to this cluster of trees.  There is a rather large house behind these trees!  Can you imagine have a small grove of trees falling on your house?  Thankfully no one was hurt.  My town is roughly situated in the middle of a forest.  People move here because they fall in love with the natural beauty of the land.  The trees in my neighborhood are quite mature, and most of them are well over 50 feet tall.  Whenever we have a serious storm, there are always some downed trees somewhere but nothing like what we experienced with Sandy.  One of my friends wrote to me that between her and her two surrounding neighbors, they lost about 50 trees!  I finally was able to get out and drive on a street that had been closed down.  I was surprised to see groves of trees all felled.  It looked as if a tornado had gone through.  The trees that fell like dominoes were mainly on open lots.  Where there were houses, the houses broke the wind somewhat but there were downed electrical wires as electrical poles snapped in half, for miles.  No wonder the power companies are having such a difficult time getting electricity back.  Some people in my town still do not have electricity.

The weather has been so strange.  I never thought I would be saying this, but in a two week time space, we experienced a hurricane (major!), an earthquake (small, magnitude 2.0) and a snow fall (about 3 inches).  Needless to say, I feel wiped out!

Friday, October 19, 2012


Pumpkins are everywhere!  I love to see them in the fall.  I always enjoy watching the children pick out their pumpkins and carry them to their cars with great pride.  The theme for the October Unity Challenge is Pumpkins.  I am using two stamps from the September 2010 Kit of the Month.  I found this fabulous double sided paper at Michaels in their scrapbooking section where they keep the loose papers.  I used Old Olive and Chocolate Chip cardstock from Stampin' UP.  I hope that you will enjoy this.  We have much to be thankful for!  One thing I am thinking for is the good people at Unity Stamp Company.  Be sure to visit them today at www.unitystampco.com and "friend them!" on Facebook.  Angela offers lots of bargains and opportunities to join in the online stamping community.  Happy Fall Ya'll!

I believe in angels, do you?  This is my entry for Unity's Kit of the Month Club Card Challenge.  The stamps used in this card came from the May 2010 Kit of the Month club.  Even though it is fall, the world is lit up with hues of amber, gold, orange and ruby, I still have angels on my mind.  Why wait til Christmas?  You can purchase the Kit of the Month stamps from Unity Stamp Company at:  www.unitystampco.com
The Kit of the Month is a great deal!  Each month, you will receive a sheet of high quality, deeply etched red rubber stamps mounted on to cling foam.  All you have to do is punch them out, which is easy because they are perforated for you at the factory.  As Angela would say, "Easy Peasy!"  Enjoy!

Isn't that little Travelocity gnome cute?  Make gnome doubt about it, children of all ages love gnomes! I made this card using a wonderful set called "Apple Cheddar Soup" by Jillibean Soup at Unity Stamp Company. This stamp set contains an apple, a gnome, and a patch of trees.  The set also contains coordinating quotes, funnies and sentiments.  It is a very versatile set and would be suitable for all seasons, if you choose to use the gnome for a Christmas elf.  By simply changing the colors, you could make it a set suitable for spring, summer, fall or winter; though, it really stands out to me for fall usage.  If you want to order this set, go to:  www.unitystampco.com.  You can follow Unity on Facebook. Angela is famous for her spontaneous sales!  Snatch up a bargain today!

Juicy orange, rich rusts, rich greens,earthy browns:  these are the colors of fall that delight so much.  Unity Stamp Company's World Card Making Day Challenge #8 is a Color Challenge which calls for making a card using the color theme of pumpkin, olive, cream and brown.  The stamp set I used to make this card was Unity Stamp Company's stamp set by Christy Tomlinson called "She was a Daughter."  If you look closely, it says "She was a daughter of God."  Long before I ever bought a stamp designed by Christy Tomlinson, I had already bought a couple of her mass produced mixed media art angels.  Like Christy, my faith in a loving God is my strength.  I find her work very inspirational.  I was thrilled when Unity added Christy's stamps to their product line.  Kudos for Unity and Christy!  You can find these beautiful stamps at:
Enjoy!

A favorite stamp of mine says "If I only had two loaves of bread, I would sell one and buy flowers."  Sometimes in life, it is all about the simple things that give us the most joy.  Unity Stamp Company's World Card Making Day Challenge Number 7 calls for "Coloring" the card in some way.  I used stamps from Ippity for Unity's stamp set called "Bloom and Simplify."  With just three stamps, this kit can take on endless creations.  It is one of my favorite sets.  You can find them at www.unitystampco.com.  My Ippity Chick is JenMarie Taylor.  She got me started on Ippity!

Ooh la la!  Unity Stamp Company's World Card Making Day Challenge #6 calls for designers to create a border with a non-border stamp.  Feeling frisky and French, I chose to use the small fleur de lis stamp from "Regal Greetings" IPK-111 from Ippity by Unity, www.unitystampco.com.  I especially like the way the top of the decorative paper above the sentiment looks like it holds the sentiment suspended, like a picture on a wall.  A little serendipity, very French!  I stamped "Thanks" from the same kit, and used punch stamps from Stampin' Up.  The background paper is from a collection by Jen Wilson for My Mind's Eye called "Totally Girl."  I used Stampin' Up's Pomegranite ink, and Stampin' Up's Chocolate Chip gross grain ribbon.

You can find these stamps and more through Unity's Ippity line.   My "Ippity Chick" is JenMarie Taylor.  She is great!   I stamped "Thanks" from the same kit, and used punch stamps from Stampin' Up. 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012


My favorite time of the year is when the air turns crisp, leaves start to change and the entire world smells delicious.  I was ahppy when  Unity Stamp Company's World Card Making Day for Day 5 was to create a fall themed card.  My card is simple, happy and joyful, like falling leaves.  I used stamps from the Unity Stamp of the Month Kit for August 2012.  I added linen thread and a button for embellishments.  Happy Fall!


"Believe in yourself!"  It sounds so simple, yet it is not always so easy.  Sometimes we need gentle reminders like this card which is my entry for Unity Stamp Company's World Cardmaking Day Challenge #4 Sketch Challenge.  Using their template, I chose stamps from the September 2010 Kit of the Month club kit.  I really like this kit.  It is a classic!  To make sure you don't miss any fabulous, go-to kits, sign up for Kit of the Month at www.unitystampco.com.  You do not have to buy every month and can skip months but you have to make arrangements ahead of time if you plan to skip more than three months.  Unity also offers a Stamp of the Week club, which is a great bargain if you prefer to get something delivered to you weekly.


The secret to living a good life is not finding perfection.  It is finding something that is perfect for you!  The third entry  for Unity Stamp Company's World Cardmaking Days Challenge Number 3 calls for embossing.  I used stamps from the Kit of the Month from November 2010.  I especially liked embossing the sofa on floral paper to make it look like a floral sofa.  I used VersaMark and black detail embossing powder for the embossing.  I used embellishments to put in the picture frames since I did not have any pictures this small.  This is my husband's favorite card.  He liked the way I put the tiny gem embellishments in the picture frames.  We both love art.  Enjoy!


Don't we all love textures?  When I am at an art gallery, it is very difficult for me not to touch the sculptures!  Thank God for outdoor sculpture gardens!  This card is for Unity Stamp Company's World Card Day Challenge #2 which calls for using at least 2 different textures in a card.  I have used some hand made paper that has a raised surface of paint and glue squiggles, a piece of colored mesh paper, and a piece of gold handmade paper.  Additionally, I added a border on top of a crotcheted lace ribbon.  The crocheted ribbon looks much better in person than it appears on screen.  There is shimmery silver thread that runs through the crotched ribbon that catches the light, and draws the eye to the silver squiggles on the handmade paper.  Enjoy!


This face shaped card is my entry for Unity Stamp Company's World Card Making Day Challenge.  Although WCD is over, the challenge is open until October 20th.  This challenge was for a shaped card, and most of my cards are squares or rectangles!  I found a book I bought a blank altered book that had been shaped into a woman's face.  I traced the outline for the card.  I had difficulty figuring out how to make the layer, so I did it by hand.  A lot of mixed media art now includes some hand drawing or doodling in it so it's okay that it is not a perfect layer.  That's part of its charm.  I used the Brave Girl's stamp set on this one which has a lot of stamps suitable for journalling and art themed around becoming the woman that you are and growing into yourself.   When you are viewing this now, you are missing the best part because not all of the card would it.  I have much to learn about technology and need to find someone to teach me more things.  But if you click on this card, you will see the full entire card, which is a woman's face.  It's worth clicking on.   Enjoy!

Monday, October 15, 2012


This is my entry for Unity Stamp of the Month's October Kit Club Challenge.  Participants are allowed to use any stamp from any kit of the month.  I am using the leaf stamps from September 2010's Kit of the Month.  You may join Unity's Kit Club at http://www.unitystampco.com
Enjoy and Happy Fall!


This is my entry for Barbara's Ippity Chick Challenge.  I used a real chick!  :)
I made this card using "Music of my Heart IPK-113" from Ippity by Unity.  I added some embellishments that I found at Michaels.  I used Stampin' Up's Pomegranite ink for the background.  I am enjoying the Chick Challenges.  Thanks, Barbara, for the great sketch idea!

Thursday, October 4, 2012



This is my card for my Maine friend Liz's Thanksgiving swap.  I have not stamped the inside.  The outside was pretty easy with the use of pre-cut card faces and die cuts.  I plan to add a sentiment inside with a Thanksgiving theme.  If you can't live in Maine, you can stamp with Maine stampers!  :)

Wednesday, October 3, 2012



The stamps and paper that Jen Marie Taylor, from Ippity of Unity, gave me as a prize for her Chick Challenge came in the mail yesterday.  I made this card with the stamp, and used the paper in the scallop in the background.  I added some ribbon and a flower to a gray background panel on an ivory card.  I like the color combination of the reds with the mustard yellow and the gray.  It reminds me of school uniforms and going back to school.  We always started college around August 25/26, and the fall was always my favorite time of the year.  These colors look more vibrant up close.  It did not really scan very well.    I haven't yet learned how to crop my cards to properly display them.  One day I will.  :)



The prize that JenMarie Taylor, of Ippity from Unity, gave me came in the mail yesterday.  It was two stamps, and a pack of paper.  I used one of the stamps for this card.  The background card I found on sale at TJMaxx.  The ribbon is from Stampin' Up.  I popped the little bees up with pop dots to give them some dimension.  I used a circle punch and a scallop punch to make the background.  .

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

This is my entry for the Unity Kit of the Month Club Sketch Challenge for September's Kit.  I really love this month's kit.  I thought I would choose fall colors for it.  I had some paper with apples on it and a nice plaid background.  I thought the apple paper complemented the words "legacy, heritage, history" thinking of Johnny Appleseed and that part of American history.  Also, the apples laid on a picnic basket background reminded me of fall family outings to pick apples.  I have never picked my own apples, but we have orchards nearby and every year, the families flock to them to pick their own.  The fields always look beautiful with the apple trees in bloom.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Ippity Chick Challenge

This is a card I made for JenMarie Taylor's Ippity Chick Challenge.  I used Stampin Up's Whisper White Cardstock and two stamps from the Ippity Collection called "Thankful for You."  The decorative paper is from SEI.  The ink used is Stampin' Up's Regal Rose.  Buttons from Stampin' Up.